


One day, on the Garland Moon

by AdraCat



Series: To Weather the Dark Collection [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday Fluff, F/F, Friendship, Happy Birthday Edelgard!, Oneshot, Sad and Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdraCat/pseuds/AdraCat
Summary: A glimpse of the past told to the present. A comparison of the same day at different times.(One-shot set within the TWtD continuity)
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: To Weather the Dark Collection [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1485548
Comments: 11
Kudos: 143





	One day, on the Garland Moon

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Happy Birthday to everyone's favorite Emperor <3

  
  


“This month is the Garland Moon, isn’t it?”

The Emperor stilled, hand pausing atop her desk. She trailed her gaze across the study before catching on Dorothea. The other woman was seated by the sill, twirling her hair idly. However, her lips were curved into a secretive smile, belying the attempt at nonchalance. Edelgard narrowed her eyes.

“It has been for quite some time.” She resumed her paperwork, quill scratching swiftly into pristine sheet. “Has it taken this long for you to catch on? The month is nearly over.”

“Time does move ever so quickly. It can be difficult to keep track.” The songstress paused, fixating on something in the distance. She clicked her tongue after a time. “Honestly, Edie, I was just checking to see if you knew.”

“Whyever would I not be aware?” The Emperor scowled at her friend, somewhat affronted.

“For the same reason you forget to eat on occasion.” Dorothea leaned against the sill, fluttering her hands at the stack of papers atop the desk. “Work and more work. I daresay if you could write missives in your sleep, Hubert would find a novel’s worth in your sheets. Tell me, do you dream of them fondly? Do they woo you with sweet nothings such as ‘non-aggression pact’ and ‘grain shortage’?”

“I don’t approve of your mockery, Dorothea. And I’m hardly fond of the paperwork needed to run an Empire.” Edelgard exhaled sharply and set her quill aside. “Perhaps I lose track a bit. However, it is well worth the price. The war cannot be managed with military might alone.”

“I know, Edie. We all do.” The taller woman strode to the desk. Her eyes sought the Emperor’s, expression falling into somber scrutiny. “But working yourself ragged is just plain silly. Allowing yourself to relax every now and then hurts no one.”

“Your concern is noted,” Edelgard sighed. She reached out a hand to rub the Professor’s head. The cat was slumbering soundly by the paper pile, only stirring to bat at her master’s fingers. The Emperor mustered a weary smile. “I suppose I could save the rest of this for tomorrow morning. I do admit, the words were beginning to blur. Shall we retire to the gardens?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could relax in the dining hall. We could make a gathering of it, if you like. Ferdie and Hubie are already there if I’m not mistaken.” Dorothea perked suddenly. Her voice brightened, near lilting with a smug undertone. Suspicion blossomed in the Emperor’s breast. She eyed the songstress as she stroked Professor’s tail.

“Is that so? How odd.” Edelgard pursed her lips; tone dry and measured. “Would the other members of the Strike Force be in attendance, perchance?”

Dorothea flashed a beatific grin and fluttered her lashes.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know. But if they happen to spot us on the way, I could hardly stop them from joining. The more the merrier, as they say. Don’t you agree, Edie?”

“Do me a favor Dorothea and never pursue a career in subversion. Your theatrics are entirely too blatant for intelligence gathering.” Edelgard rubbed her brow. A looming headache throbbed in warning. “I told everyone I didn’t want a fuss to be made. Yet four years on and you lot still insist on otherwise.”

“I don’t know what you could be possibly alluding to. Is there some grand occasion I should be aware of?” The songstress looked at her nails, painted lips schooled into a simper. The Emperor glared, thoroughly unamused.

“I don’t find your antics cute, I’ll have you know. Whose idea was this in the first place? Yours? Hubert’s?”

“It was a collaborative effort.” Dorothea looked up, casting aside her thin facade. She straightened before taking the seat across from her friend.“We know you don’t want a formal celebration to be had. Still, a little luncheon with your friends would be nice. Don’t you think?”

“I don’t want to send the wrong impression.” Edelgard frowned. There was a reason she asked for her birthday to go unobserved. During any conflict, let alone a war, any celebratory actions implied a level of complacence she was fiercely opposed to displaying. Her soldiers needed to see a leader grounded and committed; not one spending her days in idle fancy. “What would the troops think of me should I languish in a holiday decided by happenstance? And what of those who have followed my example? I do not want to set a precedent of hypocrisy.”

“Your insistence on being a pessimist is truly vexing.” The songstress crossed her legs, huffing. “Fine. Since you’re set on being a downer we’ll call it an impromptu war council. Would that satisfy you?”

“That depends. What would be included?”

“Excellent food in the presence of excellent company. Perhaps a cake at the end.”

“This is sounding entirely too party-adjacent for my liking.” The Emperor rolled her eyes. “Do away with the cake and I’ll consider it.”

Dorothea leaned forward in her chair, appearing ready to burst into another objection, but a sharp glower from lavender eyes stopped her short. After a moment she slumped in defeat.

“Well, it’s better than nothing. A shame about the cake, though. Lysithea and Ingrid looked so excited at the prospect.”

“Are you trying to guilt me?” Edelgard scoffed, incredulous.

“Is it working?” A sly verdant gaze stared pointedly at her. The Emperor favored the older woman with a cutting glance before turning her attention to the desk. She retrieved her quill, conscious of the animal snoozing peacefully by her forearm.

“Very well, but the gathering will be constrained to the Strike Force. I won’t tolerate a breath of any birthday wishes or songs sung in my honor. And absolutely no gift-giving, either. Do I make myself clear?”

“Dear me, is it your birthday? Why, I never would have known.” Dorothea stood, avoiding the envelope thrown her way. “How rude. Is this any way to treat the woman who will one day portray your likeness?”

“You’re rather confident in that. Maybe I should ban the Mittelfrank from adapting this war.”

The songstress pouted but said nothing further on the subject. She moved to the door and waved her hand.

“Alas, my welcome is worn and lunch draws near. I’ll gather the others while you finish up.” She paused in the threshold, glancing at the Emperor’s seated form. “Unless… there’s something else you need to attend to first?”

Edelgard blinked, uncertain as to what her friend could mean. Then Professor yawned before nudging her hand. The cat purred as calloused fingers stroked her head. The Emperor felt her heart ache as cornflower blue stared up at her.

“Yes… I think I’ll take a quick walk before I join you.” She chanced a hesitant look towards Dorothea. “If you all don’t mind waiting…?”

“Don’t be silly, Edie. We’ll wait for you.” Dorothea smiled, sad and knowing. “Now go enjoy your visit. I’ll stop our friends from eating all the cake.”

In a swirl of red and black the woman disappeared into the hall. Edelgard barely registered her absence. Her mind was already snared by other concerns. She thumbed Professor’s ears, staring blankly out the window. Her eyes stilled upon the greenhouse.

“It’s customary to give lilies, isn’t it?” The Emperor murmured to herself quietly. She puzzled the flowers over in her mind, but could only muster disdain. Their visage brought far more unpleasant reminders to the fore. Namely, of the negligent Goddess. Her head was crowned with them in all the depicted texts. She wrinkled her nose.

It was ridiculous, she knew, to give a gift in someone's stead. And more so when the recipient was yourself, but… She bit her lip, drifting back to a time when a woman she barely knew had offered her a bouquet. Byleth hadn’t known anything of her, couldn’t have with so little time spent together. Yet still, she had made time to give her flowers.

The Emperor had been wary back then, unsure why the Professor would bother. She suspected the woman of trying to curry her favor, but the truth was disarmingly plain. Soon, she discovered that Byleth gave everyone flowers for their birthday. It was not proof of preference. It was just the woman acting as per her thoughtful nature. The knowledge was startling; the first sign of anything beyond her customary apathy. And, much to Edelgard’s surprise, the start of gentle thoughts and softer feelings on her part. She steadied herself in the present, biting down a sudden feeling of guilt.

_Did I accomplish even a fraction of that for you?_

Edelgard stood, Professor safely bundled in her arms. Then she made her way down to the courtyard, paying no mind to the tail curling around her arm.

  
  


* * *

  
  


As the wind shook the surrounding trees and the smell of summer swept the grounds, a lone cat trotted faithfully to a grave marker. The animal brushed against the headstone, fur rippling under the midday sun. A few paces away, the Emperor followed. She stopped at the grave, arms full of a brilliant bouquet of carnations. It was her favorite and the same Byleth had given her once upon a time.

“I never asked how you knew. Perhaps you didn’t.” Edelgard smiled and placed them beside the stone. Her knuckles rasped against the etched names. “I loved them, you know. They stayed in my room for months, long after they had withered. It felt like a waste to toss them away.”

She allowed her fingers to linger atop the colorful petals.

“I pressed one within a book, hoping it would keep. Thankfully, it did and every time you invited me for tea I wanted to tell you that.” The Emperor’s smile turned wry. “I spent hours thinking of ways to reveal my little keepsake. Perhaps I would bring the book to class and you would see it with my notes. Or perhaps it would slip onto the table as we spoke over tea. Fanciful little musings, weren’t they?”

Her smile fell into something wistful.

“Yet I never told you. Why would I? I was convinced you would stand against me one day. Foolish, silly girl that I was. I never counted on you choosing me.” She swallowed and breathed deep. “I’m here now, because of you. The others are with me too, because of you. It seems too little a thing, to offer you this when you already gave me so much.”

She rose, wiping her eyes. Professor curled at her heel, bright eyes ever watchful.

“I should have told you so many things. But what’s done is done.” Edelgard forced her smile to return. “One day, I’ll have the chance to tell you all of my regrets and everything I never had a chance to say. For now, I will stand tall and cut my way through this interminable darkness. Until then, please watch over all of us.”

A sudden wind swept by her cheek, warm and pleasant. She closed her eyes and heard a whisper within; a voice she had not heard in quite some time but knew by heart. It spoke of well wishes given in yesteryears and those yet to come. Edelgard opened her eyes, knowing it to be only a trick of the mind. Still, she took strength from it just the same. The Emperor turned on her heel and beckoned her furry friend along.

“Come now, Professor. We have a prior commitment to keep.”

There would be time for proper celebrations later. When the war was over and the filth of Those Who Slithered were gone, then she would rest. In the meantime, the Emperor would be prepared. No work was too great in the face of those horrors. However, this did not mean she could not surround herself with that little light she found. She felt her step lighten and as she walked into the dining hall and saw the faces of her friends, Edelgard broke into a genuine smile.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Byleth cocked her head, blinking rapidly. Meanwhile, Edelgard waited patiently for her lover to process her little tale. After a protracted moment, the General hummed softly.

“So that was how your last birthday went?” She glanced down at the woman in her arms. “I didn’t realize you stopped celebrating. That’s…terribly sad.”

“It was for the best. It didn’t feel right to celebrate much of anything with a war afoot. Of course, there was the yearly gathering to honor our soldiers, but the circumstances were different.” Edelgard snuggled deeper into her lover’s hold. Beside them, Tiny Professor was curled into a ball. The animal had been banished to her own cozy bed after leaving one too many feline gifts, but some exceptions were made on account of the present day. “Everyone understood. They just weren’t the best at abiding the rules; Dorothea, in particular.”

“That sounds like her.” Byleth chuckled fondly. “I’m glad she was there for you when I couldn’t be. I should get her something nice next time we’re in Brigid.”

“You’ll just encourage her to meddle in my affairs even more. She has a terrible habit of sticking her nose where she shouldn’t.” Edelgard paused, thinking. Her tone softened. “But you’re right. She and the others kept me sane during those years. Truthfully, I never needed any formal recognition of my birthday. Their support was more than enough.”

“Oh? Should I tell the caterers they’re free to go?” The older woman’s smile broadened playfully. Cornflower eyes glittered with visible mirth. “Lysithea will be devastated. She’s talked about nothing else for weeks.”

“Honestly!” Edelgard rolled atop her lover, glaring into Byleth’s eyes. “You and Dorothea are both impossible. You’re no longer allowed to be left alone with her, understood? She’s been too much of an influence already.”

“As you say, Your Majesty.” Byleth grinned blithely. She trailed her fingers across the Emperor’s thigh. “It is your birthday, after all.”

“Hmph. Your irreverence is most unappreciated.” Edelgard sighed, relaxing into the touch despite herself. “While I’m looking forward to the festivities, for the most part, I have to say that I don’t enjoy the prospect of making nice with the court. They’ve been trying to ply me with gifts all month and I’m sick of it.”

“Can you blame them? It’s not every year the Emperor allows her birthday to be celebrated.” Byleth laughed as a pillow was tossed atop her face. She swatted it aside and offered a lopsided grin. “Don’t worry, El. If they get too close, I’ll be there to intimidate them into silence. And if not me, then Hubert.”

“That makes me worry more not less.” The Emperor sniffed, but her mouth curved into a small smile. “Nonetheless, the thought is appreciated. It’s lovely to know I have such stalwart protectors.”

“It’s only natural,” Byleth commented airily. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her lover’s ear. “We love you greatly; me most of all. And I’ll be here, for this birthday and every one that comes after.”

“Another promise, General Eisner?” Edelgard smiled, chest filling with warmth. That feeling only grew as Byleth took her hand and placed a tender kiss atop a scarred palm. Then she trailed her lips down to the ring circling a pale finger.

“What do you get a woman who has almost everything?” Byleth smiled into her skin. “A promise made and kept is all I can offer. Do you dislike your gift, El?”

“Not at all,” Edelgard whispered, bending over her lover. Their lips met firmly, warmth passing between them. She enjoyed the closeness and savored the thrum of a beating heart beneath her hand. After a moment, the Emperor pulled back and stared into soft blue eyes. An ocean of love lay there, vibrant with adoration.

“Happy birthday, El.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: And that's a wrap on this little fic! I hope you all enjoyed it. Honestly, this was a very spur of the moment thing so please overlook any typos for now. I just thought Edie deserved a nice little bday gift. I also wanted to cleanse my palette a bit before heading back into TFaT lol. Welp, I'm going to return to my vacation hole so see you guys next time! ~ AdraCat


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